Hostage
by Connieroo
Summary: When Percy breaks up with Annabeth unexpectedly, her whole world is left in ruins. She is reduced to an emotionless, near-suicidal wreck. However, she gets and ominous text, and she embarks on a dangerous mission to rescue her boyfriend, and perhaps their relationship... THIS IS GOING TO BE A ONE SHOT SO SORRY :(


'W-what are you saying?'

'I'm saying we can't be together anymore.'

'But...but...'

Percy gently pushed Annabeth away and jumped in his taxi. It sped away, kicking up dust into Annabeth's face.

'But I love you...' she whispered.

* * *

When Annabeth got home she sped up the stairs and collapsed onto her bed, and let all the regret and anger and sadness flow out in a massive five minute sobbing fit. How could Percy leave her? How could he just cut her off so abruptly? She was suddenly overwhelmed by the unfairness of the world that she yelled, a loud, long scream of bitterness that echoed off the walls.

Nothing mattered but her and the stabbing pain in her chest where Percy should have been. She sat there, alone, and remembered all the times she and him had had together. The zoo truck in LA, the underwater kiss in the canoe lake, the night in the stables of the Argo 11... Annabeth cried herself to sleep that night.

Annabeth woke to the sound of her cellphone ringing. She groggily picked it up and glanced at the screen, and her stomach did a backflip. It was Percy!

Then she remembered how angry she was and contemplated answering. Eventually her heart won over her head and she shakily said 'Hello?'

'Annabeth! I'm so sorry!' Percy's voice sounded muffled and choked, like he'd been crying too. 'I didn't have time to explain. You see - I'm moving to Texas.'

'What?'

'Paul's got a job there. I had to go with them. I had no choice!' His voice sounded ominous, like he knew something Annabeth didn't. 'I'm in the car right now.'

She choked back a sob.

'Listen Annabeth. Please do me a favour. Move on. Don't dwell on me. Find someone new, carry on as usual.'

'Move on? How am I supposed to move on?' she whimpered.

'Sorry,' Percy whispered.

And then the line went dead.

* * *

Annabeth survived the next few weeks in a zombie like daze. It was just sleep, eat, work, sleep, eat, work... She was as emotionless as a machine, and felt numb all over except for the dull ache in her chest. It was like withdrawing from a life saving drug.

It was a bright Saturday and Annabeth was laying on her bed, staring aimlessly at the ceiling. She noticed her bronze knife lying on the bedside table and picked it up.

Why not? If she just plunged it into her chest, it would be such a quick and easy death...

Suddenly, her dad poked his head round the door.

'Annabeth, sweetie, do you want to come out with me?' he asked.

Annabeth took any opportunity to take her mind off of Percy, so she got in the car with him.

'Where are we going? she asked.

'I thought we might go to Ocean Beach.'

Annabeth's stomach jumped into her throat. 'Please not the beach. Anywhere but there!'

'Why? It would be a waste not to go anywhere on a day like this.'

Annabeth suddenly felt sick. 'Please, let's just go home.'

A look of dawning comprehension spread across her day's face. 'Oh. Okay.'

'Thanks.'

Suddenly her phone buzzed in her pocket. She looked at it and almost passed out. Someone who's name looked horribly like 'Aunty Em' had sent her a text that said: 'If you want to see your precious boyfriend again, come to the Old Factory in San Francisco.'

'The Old Factory!' Annabeth shouted. 'Go, go, go!'

'What? Why?' asked her dad.

'It's Percy! He's been captured by Medusa. I have to help him!'

Her dad swerved the car around, and sped through the traffic. Eventually they arrived at the at the Old Factory and Annabeth jumped out of the car.

She fought through debris and cobwebs, fuelled by the terrible images in her head. She had to rescue Percy.

Finally, she stumbled into a large hall with a dome ceiling. Hanging from a massive metal frame which buzzed like a pylon in the middle of the room, his hands suspended from thick chains, was Percy. When she saw him, she almost fainted. His clothes were in tatters, he was thin and emaciated to the point of being skeletal and he was covered in burns and scratches.

'Percy!' Annabeth yelled in a panic. Obviously with an effort, he raised his head, and his eyes widened in fear and shock.

He mouthed something like 'Be quiet', when suddenly the wall to Annabeth's left exploded and Medusa walked through the hole. She immediately closed her eyes, knowing that Medusa's gaze would instantly turn her to stone. She ran towards Percy, and tried to hack down the metal poles in a rush of fear and anger. But at the first touch of her knife, Percy let out a muffled yelp, his face contorted in agony. His whole body convulsed.

'Nice try, my darling,' purred Medusa. 'But that contraption is electric. One touch and over 900 volts of raw electricity runs through it and into your precious Percy Jackson.'

Annabeth gasped. She hadn't realised what she was doing to him. She backed away and pressed against the wall.

'So, we meet again, Annabeth Chase,' said Medusa in an icy voice.

'Shut. Up.' Annabeth was really mad now. How dare she take Percy and leave her in a suicidal state? How dare she torture Percy just for fun? It just wasn't fair.

She suddenly felt a surge of hatred and threw her knife straight at Medusa's neck. Medusa dodged it easily, and it hit the wall behind her.

'Pitiful, pitiful,' tutted Medusa, and smiled her creepy smile. 'However, if you do kill me, you'll never find out where the switch to turn off that device is.'

In a state of desperation Annabeth lunged at Medusa and started to attack her. She grabbed her knife off the wall, and in a few seconds she had the tip of the knife at Medusa's throat. A wild look came into Medusa's eyes and she pleaded, 'I'll tell you where the switch is, I promise. Just don't kill me!'

'Fine,' Annabeth spat. 'Go on then, but I want you to swear on the River Styx you will tell me the exact location.'

'I sware,' gulped Medusa. 'It's over there, behind that wallpaper.' Annabeth saw a strange square bump and knew exactly where it was.

'Go.' Medusa took a few steps and then turned, and Annabeth only just missed the strange glowing eyes. The creature pounced, but Annabeth held out her knife and impaled her with a strange squelch. Medusa screamed, 'NOOOOOOOOO!', but in five seconds she was a pile of ash on the floor.

Annabeth ran over to the wall and ripped off the patterned wallpaper. She pushed the switch.

Annabeth heard the buzz of the machine die behind her and ran to help Percy down.

'Are you okay?' she asked. But Percy had passed out.

She examined his body, and came across a nasty looking cut. It was about three centimetres deep and was a nasty grey green colour. She winced when she saw it. Also, from what she could tell, his ankle was broken. He had burns all across his stomach, back and arms, and a collection of scratches across his face and legs. He had a gash over his right cheek, and Annabeth knew that it would scar.

'Who could do this to you?' she whispered.

Annabeth knew only Chiron and the Apollo campers back at camp could heal wounds like this. Still, she pulled some nectar and ambrosia out of her bag and fed it to Percy. He groaned and his eyelids fluttered, but fainted again when he woke up.

Annabeth carried Percy over her shoulder back to her dad's car. He really was light, and she picked him up easily. She was careful not to touch the gash on his chest. She hurriedly laid him in the back seats and hopped in the front.

'What's wrong with him? He looks like he's been in a car crash,' her dad commented.

Annabeth just smiled grimly. 'It's a whole lot worse than that.'

* * *

The next day, they had arrived at Camp Half-Blood. Annabeth carried Percy through the border, and several demigods rushed forward to see who it was. They all backed away when they saw the worried look on Annabeth's face.

She strode up to the Big House.

'Chiron! Please, come quick!' she yelled.

Chiron clopped onto the porch. 'Annabeth, how nice to-' He cut off when he saw Percy. 'Get him in here, quick.'

A few days later, Annabeth was sat next to Percy when his eyes opened.

'Hydra... Medusa... No... Please not Annabeth...' he moaned. He tried to get up but ended up falling back into bed. He looked at Annabeth and sank back into his pillows. 'Thank Gods you're safe. She said they would... They would...' He trailed away, a broken look in his eyes. 'They - they showed me what they were going to do. It was horrible.'

'It's okay,' she soothed. 'We're together.'

'I had to go! They said they would hurt you if I didn't. I'm sorry. I really am. I never wanted to break up with you.'

Annabeth smiled sadly. She couldn't help but notice how Percy was ranting, going on about things that she didn't know and didn't want to know about.

'You mean... You went through all of that just because Medusa threatened to hurt me?' she asked.

'Not just hurt you, kill you, torture you, dismantle you... please don't make me talk about it.'

He grabbed her hand and passed out again.

She walked over to Chiron. 'Will he ever become - well, sane again?'

'Yes, I'm sure he will. It's only the shock of the images Medusa showed him. It'll wear off. Besides, we have Dionysus here.'

* * *

True to his word, Percy began to talk sense the next day. He went over what had happened in the Factory, and Annabeth began to feel really quite disturbed by some of the scenes that he described.

'But why would they take you hostage for no reason?' Chiron asked.

'I haven't got a clue,' replied Percy. 'That's something to figure out another day.'


End file.
